Tanzania's SGR: Design flaw haunt the service

The Tanzanian standard Gauge Train, which has been running for less than two years, has suffered frequent minor mishaps. Among these are frequent stoppages due to power outages. 

However, over the last two months, these mishaps have escalated to include a derailment and service suspension due to a flooded river damaging the infrastructure.

This has led to the public lashing out at the management, terming it incompetent.

No Sir. The management is not incompetent. The problem lies elsewhere, and no Management, however competent, can deal with it.

The mistakes were made at the design stage. The line is a level crossing line with few elevations. That is the problem, and I shall be brutally frank. It will persist for the life of the line. Around October 25^th, 2025, the train derailed at Ruvu station during the morning run from Dar-Es- Salaam to Dodoma. The management described the accident as an “operational hitch.” And On December 31st, 2025. The service was suspended as heavy rains destroyed the infrastructure.

 This problem also bedevils the Metre Gauge Train. Flooded rails always ground the service. This is because they are all level Crossing with no significant elevations. The same problem afflicts the Ethiopia- Djibouti line for similar reasons.

In Ethiopia, the electric train ran into a flooded section around Adamawa. It derailed, costing millions in lost revenue. We posit that the “operational Hitch” that hit the Tanzanian high-speed train was the same. It ran into a slippery section of the rail.  Around October 23^{rd last} year,   heavy rains dumped plenty of water in East Africa, including Tanzania.

The rains must have pushed debris and mud into the tracks causing the engine to slip off track. It was only the locomotive, from the pictures seen by this publication that derailed. This lends credence to our theory.

Two months later, heavy rains damaged infrastructure in two sections of the line, forcing the service to be cancelled for safety reasons.

So why do we say that this will be a regular problem? Because the Railway line is Level-Crossing, meaning it lies on the ground and will therefore be prone to rain-induced stoppages.

In contrast, the diesel- powered high-speed train in Kenya, which has been operating since 2017, has not suffered a single accident including; collision with people, animals, and vehicles. Neither has it suffered any natural mishaps such as infrastructure destruction. The reason: Proper design. The line is largely elevated to 5 Metres high and in some instances higher, eliminating accidents and natural calamities such as flooded tracks.

In case of accidents, the Addis- Djibouti line leads in deaths of people and livestock. This has forced the train to slow down from 80KPH to 50 KPh.  There has not been any reported accidents in Tanzania, however, they cannot be ruled out in future.